What do Americans trust more: church or small business?

A new Gallup poll asked 1,000 Americans about their confidence in various institutions. The US military ranked first; Congress was last. Here are the other rankings.

ByChad Brooks, BusinessNewsDaily ContributorJune 24, 2011

Downtown Dyersville, Iowa, retains its charm but struggles to remain viable with businesses working to keep local customers in this 1998 file photo. In a new Gallup poll in June 2011, Americans said they had more confidence in the military than in any other US institution.

Of the institutions examined, law enforcement was the only other one that saw high confidence levels from more than 50 percent of those surveyed.

Other institutions and their confidence rankings included:

Church or organized religion: 48 percent

Medical system: 39 percent

U.S. Supreme Court: 37 percent

Presidency: 35 percent

Public schools: 34 percent

Criminal justice system: 28 percent

Newspapers: 28 percent

Television news: 27 percent

Banks: 23 percent

Organized labor: 21 percent

Big business: 19 percent

Health maintenance organizations: 19 percent

Congress: 12 percent

Gallup has asked Americans how much confidence they have in a variety of institutions 35 times since 1973, with annual updates since 1993.

Overall, confidence in most of the institutions this year is below the historical average for each. Americans’ overall dissatisfaction with the country, including the state of the economy, is to blame, according to Gallup. This year's ratings of banks, Congress and the presidency are the ones falling the most below their historical average.

The most notable exception is for the military, which this year is 11 points higher than its historical average.